foreclosure

Life, unfortunately isn’t always full of brightly colored rainbows and delicate butterflies and we might end up finding ourselves in a position where we are unable to pay our mortgage and fear the potential of facing the Foreclosure process. While it is believed that this process comes and goes with no possible way out you often don’t think that you will need any legal help, however, that isn’t necessarily the case. By using an experienced team of lawyers you will be able to look into multiple difference options that are available to you as well as discuss in detail and ultimately decide which option is the best fit for you and your family. Mortgage Mediation, Mortgage Modification, Short Sales and even Bankruptcy are all options when you are facing a Foreclosure.

Fighting battles alone can often lead to success, although the chances may be slim, but when you have people fighting along side you, you have a better chance of winning. The main thing to understand is that your options are not limited. As individuals, we are scared of the notices we may see being plastered to the front door of our home, however, one thing to cling to is that many of these notices are simply scare tactics and aren’t legally able to advance the process whatsoever. By hiring the right team to support you, you will be able to fully understand what notices to look for, what notices are just scaring tactics, and what each notice means and how to proceed. Don’t let the multiple notices on your door fool you and discuss each notice with a professional so you are fully knowledgeable and aware of how the processing is accelerating and at what speed.

There are three different notices that will be posted that you will need to keep an eye out for:

Notice of Pre-Foreclosure Options, Notice of Default, and finally, Notice of Trustee Sale. Notices with any other titles will not hold a legal merit and will likely be there as an attempt to make the process go faster by your foreseeable forfeit of your home. To ensure you stay ahead of the game, contact legal professionals before these notices are posted when and if at all possible. You will be aware if your mortgage payments haven’t been made so contacting a legal team before the process starts will allow you to have more time to discuss the processes and ask questions so that you don’t feel rushed once the ball starts to roll.

Not only will you be able to ask questions, get answers and have a team fighting for you but you will also get the best representation during your Foreclosure. Stay on top of the game and be ready to catch the curve balls that are thrown your way. Facing Foreclosure is not the end and it is most certainly not the only way to resolve the problems you are facing. If you are in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Everett, King County, Snohomish County or Western Washington, click here to get in contact with the lawyers that are standing by to assist you.

Having a great team behind you is important if you are planning on avoiding a foreclosure but there may be other options. Having an investor buy your home outright may also be a viable option. – Thank you to Peter Westbrook REI for our guest post this week. Peter buys properties as-is in any condition throughout northern California.

Foreclosure Rescue Scams Are Out There – BEWARE!

Washington as well as other areas have a growing problem of foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification scams that could cost you thousands of dollars OR your home should you fall victim. Scammers will usually make promises they can’t keep such as ensuring GUARANTEES of certain outcomes for a fee and/or pretending they have direct contact with your mortgage servicer.

If you think you may be a victim of one of these kinds of scams, file a complaint NOW.

To help you avoid such scams follow these tips:

If you see/hear promises to save your home and lower your mortgage or debt payment, beware of con artists. If you are struggling to pay your mortgage, keep these tips in mind:

On your own or with help from a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, you can apply to the federal Making Home Affordable (MHA) program. For more information call 888-995-HOPE.

ONLY your mortgage servicer can grant a loan modification. This is how you know it’s impossible for a third party to guarantee or pre approve your HAMP mortgage modification application.

If they want you to pay a fee up front, beware. In most cases, charging fees in advance of a mortgage modification is actually illegal. Paying a third party won’t improve your likelihood of receiving a mortgage modification anyway.

If an individual or company claims to be affiliated with HAMP or has a logo or some display representing themselves as such, check out the said connection by calling the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline at 888-995-HOPE.

Also be leery of anyone that offers money back guarantees.

ESPECIALLY beware of anyone who advises you to discontinue contact with your mortgage servicer or to stop making mortgage payments.

Never sign over the deed to your property to any individual or organization unless you are working directly with your mortgage company to forgive your debt.

What If I’m a Year Behind in My Mortgage Payments?

You may be behind only two months in your mortgage payments or up to two years behind! Wherever you may find yourself on that scale, the question is, what do you do and what’s going to happen? First and foremost, let’s be clear that it is vitally important that you keep in good communication from the get go or as soon as possible. The longer you avoid notices due to embarrassment or denial, the worse things can get. Lenders are usually very willing to work with you UNTIL a Notice of Default is filed. Once one of these is filed, it is very hard to work with your lender as they are looking out to protect their interest. So, be sure to communicate early and often. Also, keep a clear record of every time you communicate with your lender: the day you called, name of person you talked to and what you talked about. This can only help you later down the road. Remember, lenders do not want to foreclose, so if you’re unable to fulfill your mortgage obligation, contact your lender immediately so they can give you options to help you.

Options may include:

–time to make up your payments. You may be granted something called forbearance, an agreement from the lenders to not take action against you while you work out a repayment plan that is affordable for you.

-forgiving a payment. The lender may grant you debt forgiveness, which means they may let you skip a payment or two if you can prove that you will be able to pay thereafter. However, this rarely happens.

–repayment plan. Sometimes you can spread the missed payments out over a longer term. For example, if your mortgage is $900, you may pay $200 more a month until you’re caught up, temporarily making your payments $1100.

-change the terms of your loan. Maybe your interest rate can be adjusted or maybe your amortization period can be extended.

–refinance. You may be able to add the back payments to the balance of your loan if you have sufficient equity.

-partial claim. Some government loans have provisions which allow the borrower to apply for another loan to pay back the missed payments if they meet certain criteria.

The above are routes of action if a Notice of Default has not yet been filed. if one has been filed, your remaining options are to reinstate your loan, sell your home, consider a short sale or sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

U.S. Foreclosure Inventory Goes Down

The May International Foreclosure Report from Corelogic is showing a 29% decrease in inventory from a year ago. According to their analysis there were 52,000 completed foreclosures in May 2013 and 71,000 in May 2012. That’s a 27% decrease.

As of April 2013, current shadow inventory, that’s inventory owned by the bank and not yet on the market, was under 2 million units. 2 million units represents a supply of about 5 months. Since its peak in 2010, the overall shadow inventory is down 34%. It is down 18% from a year ago.

Completed foreclosures indicate the number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged about 21,000 per month between 2000-2006. 52,000 foreclosures were reported for the month of 2013! Since the financial crisis began in September of 2008, there have been about 4.4 million completed foreclosures nationwide.

Come May 2013, approximately 1.0 million homes were in some stage of foreclosure. In other words that was the amount of foreclosure inventory nationwide. In May 2012, it was 1.4 million. This is a year to year decrease of 29%. The foreclosure inventory of May 2013 represented 2.6 of all homes with a mortgage. In May 2012, it represented 3.5 percent.

At the end of May 2013, there are fewer than 2.3 million mortgages in delinquency or past due. This is at its lowest level since 2008. This means shadow inventory is at its lowest too. The president and CEO of Corelogic, Anand Nallathambi, said, “affordability, despite the rise in home prices over the past year, and consumer confidence are big contributors to these positive trends.”

Should I Hire a Lawyer for a Mortgage Mediation or Foreclosure?

If your lender has failed to approve previous effort to modify your loan, often mediation is the best way to go. What is mediation? Foreclosure mediation is a meeting where a homeowner and mortgage lender negotiate potential modifications or other alternatives before an impartial Judge in an attempt to reach an agreement. And this kind of mediation requires the expertise of a lawyer.

Why hire a lawyer? The most common question asked when someone is facing foreclosure is, “What will give me the best chance to avoid this?” Although circumstances involved always vary greatly, the answer ALWAYS remains the same. And that answer is this, ” to fully and most completely use all your rights and remedies including: foreclosure defense, loan modification, mortgage mediation and bankruptcy, you MUST be represented by a foreclosure lawyer…an EXPERT foreclosure lawyer.”

You need a lawyer with TONS of experience and you need one NOW. So, be sure to ask your potential representation how long they’ve been representing clients like you, how long their practice has been devoted to foreclosure prevention and then review evaluations of recent clients. Remember, get to work on this immediately as delay, indecision and denial are the enemies of foreclosure prevention.

Beware of scams and make sure your lawyer is an expert. Anyone who generally guarantees they’ll save your home, is either a scam artist or ignorant or both. Additionally, the person at the bank may be a brand new hire who knows nothing or someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Either way, the next time you call, you may get the new hire. You want an expert, the same expert, and throughout the whole process.

An expert can help you understand the debt and tax consequences of a short sale, protect you from pitfalls and scams, assure you that, should foreclosure happen, you have the right to stay in your home for as long as your rights and remedies allow and enable you to plan where you’ll live next without fear of the sheriff showing up and ordering you to leave. An expert lawyer can also, in most cases, help you to be debt free when you leave should foreclosure be inevitable in your case. And of course, an expert lawyer can help you come to an agreement with your lender that avoids foreclosure all together.

Yes, these kinds of lawyers can be expensive but hiring an expert almost always benefits you not only financially but emotionally. The benefit of avoiding the loss of your home is obvious. But should you lose your home, remember, as mentioned before, there are pitfalls and scams to avoid and knowledge to be learned about debt and taxes that come with certain mediation agreements.